‘Trainwreck’: Watch Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Brutal 60 Minutes Interview

By Aidan McLaughlinMar 12th, 2018, 6:56 am
 

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had an interview on 60 Minutes that aired Sunday night, and faced a brutal grilling from Lesley Stahl about the work her department does.

And stunningly, DeVos failed to answer basic questions about school performance, as CBS News’ Stahl — who called her “one of the most hated members of the Trump cabinet” — pressed her on taking funding away from public schools.

After Devos made an argument for “school choice,” pointing to Florida as a state where public schools have improved as a result, Stahl grilled her home state of Michigan.

“Have the public schools in Michigan gotten better?” Stahl asked.

“I don’t know. Overall, I can’t say overall that they have all gotten better,” DeVos replied.

“The whole state is not doing well,” Stahl shot back, before stating, “No, but your argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better, is not working in Michigan where you had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system here.”

“Have you seen the really bad schools?” Stahl asked. “Maybe try to figure out what they’re doing?”

“I have not — I have not — I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming,” DeVos said.

“Maybe you should,” Stahl deadpanned, to which DeVos conceded, “Maybe I should. Yes.”

Watch a painful segment from the interview above, and the full episode here.

The brutal interview caught the attention of many on Twitter, who pointed out the alarming idea that the education secretary seemed to have a poor grasp of the work of her own department.

[image via screengrab]

—

Follow Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) on Twitter

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

Filed Under:
Aidan McLaughlin - Editor in Chief

Aidan McLaughlin is the Editor of Mediaite. Send tips via email: aidan@mediaite.com. Ask for Signal. Follow him on Twitter: @aidnmclaughlin